City animal-control officers have shut down an unlicensed animal-rescue operation after seizing dozens of sick cats during a recent raid, officials said.
Department of Animal Services officials said there have been numerous violations related to animal abuse at Angel Puss Rescue, which no longer will be allowed to house or rescue cats. Angel Puss Rescue had been operating without permits for animal boarding or running a cat or dog kennel, officials said. Animal-control officers also questioned the actions of the Bureau of Humane Law Enforcement, a new agency based in Hawthorne, for previously confiscating 22 diseased cats from the Canoga Park rescue while leaving 74 sick cats behind. "I'm concerned about the welfare of all the animals in the city of Los Angeles," said Animal Services Capt. Karen Knipsheer. "There were sick cats. That's why we impounded them: 74 needed immediate care."
Volunteers at Angel Puss Rescue, 7508 Topanga Canyon Blvd., did not respond to a request for comment.
Animal-control officers seized the cats December 1, 2005 after receiving complaints about the condition of cats left behind by officers of the Hawthorne-based agency. Knipsheer said city officers found 128 cats, including the 74 that were taken for treatment to the Animal Services Annex, a city kennel in South Los Angeles that houses animals used as evidence in criminal cases. The Bureau of Humane Law Enforcement had acquired a search warrant on Nov. 27, 2005, to enter Angel Puss Rescue. During that raid, an agency officer accompanied by Los Angeles police seized 24 seriously ill cats. One cat was found dead in her cage, and more than 15 dead cats were found in a freezer, authorities said.
"Their faces were covered with mucous. Their eyes were glued shut. We have a couple of kittens who will lose their eyes they were so infected," said Bureau of Humane Law Enforcement Capt. Brenda Carey, co-founder of the agency. "We had three or four little kittens die because of it."
Carey said the agency, which doesn't have an animal shelter, had intended to confiscate only 10 sick cats as evidence, but decided to take the "very sickest of the sick." But city officials have raised questions about why the agency left behind so many sick cats and did not conduct a follow-up investigation.
"L.A. Animal Services has concerns about the (Bureau of Humane Law Enforcement) investigation and it is being reviewed by the appropriate city agencies," said Geurdon Stuckey, general manager of the Department of Animal Services, in a printed statement. "We will do everything we can to ensure that these cats obtain proper medical care and do not return to this location."
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